Signs O' The Times

Nope, not channeling the purple one here, just finishing up the recruiting series.

Since we last talked, the NCAA has decided that it's important to indicate that 7th graders are now officially potential student athletes in basketball. That means that some idiot is pursuing kids who are 12-13 years old to help his program in the future. Wonder who that could be...

Today is National Signing Day- the day that high school athletes sign the letters of intent that will bind them to their colleges of choice (unlike their coaches, who can go where ever they want when ever they want).

This is the day that coaches know for sure who will be joining their team- who was being honest with their verbal commitments, and who has chosen to go elsewhere.

But as Scout, Rivals, and others celebrate this day that legitimizes their existence, let me offer a cold bucket of reality. First, a reminder: These are kids who are choosing to go to college to (allegedly) get their education.

Although, the standards by which they are admitted are different than everyone else. While more and more schools brag about their "selectivity" (how high the scores/GPAs of their incoming classes are), NCAA Football powers continually bring people to the academic community whose scores are much lower than the rest of their cohort. Often, there are even attempts to get around the NCAA minimum standard for admittance- yup, there are 3.9 GPA students who don't receive the fat envelope while kids with 820 SATs are given full rides.

Well, once there they still have to make the grades, right? Sure, sort of. Often times, athletes are funneled to specific majors in order to help them maintain eligibility. Sure, there are some exceptions, but it seems that a student's development outside of the field/court is not as important as it could be.

And, to top it all off, the graduation rates (while improving) are still no where near the level that they should be, especially for programs that pride themselves on academic excellence. Sure would make the BCS more interesting if the classroom would factor into the equation...

There will be a lot of celebration today, and rightfully so. For some of these young men, this is the chance of a lifetime.

My hope is that they will find ways to make the most of it, in spite of of some overwhelming odds- potentially being unprepared for academic life, having people invest in them only due to sports, living in a culture who won't celebrate just as much when/if they get their degree.

But those are the times we live in.